Depravity
by Bainpeth
Summary: How Captain Jack Sparrow came to wear kohl


Title:Depravity Author: The Vampire Sands Character: Captain Jack Sparrow (and company) Written for a challenge to describe what's on Jack's body Nods to another Johnny Depp movie  
  
depravity  
  
\De*prav"i*ty\, n. [From Deprave: cf. L. pravitas crookedness, perverseness.] The state of being depraved or corrupted; a vitiated state of moral character; general badness of character; wickedness of mind or heart; absence of religious feeling and principle.  
  
This story explains the gold coin in Jack's hair (on the left), the eye- kohl and his well-earned reputation for Depravity. I have to give a nod to "Don Juan deMarco" for inspiration, too.  
  
Jack sat at the Broken Anchor and took a sip from his watered-down ale. Several of his crew from the Black Pearl had joined him on shore leave, including Gibbs and Fisherman. They sat with other patrons, enjoying Jack's stories.  
  
"Tell me Jack," one old salt spoke up, "how did you get the idea to wear that black stuff around your eyes like that?"  
  
A small smile tugged at Jack's lips. He sat back in his chair, staring down into his drink as if contemplating the contents while the men, and even one of the serving wenches paused, all waited for him to answer.  
  
"It was the year I turned sixteen," Jack told them. "I was a ship hand aboard an English vessel called the Attitude. We worked the Mediterranean, dodgin' t'Corsairs, and raidin' the shipping routes.  
  
"One hot day in August, it were. I was tryin' t'sleep."  
  
Jack paused, looking around to make sure everyone was paying attention.  
  
"During the day?" someone urged.  
  
"Yeah, seein' as how we had been up all night," Jack nodded.  
  
"And why couldn't ye sleep? And why were ye up all t'night?" the old salt inquired as if on cue.  
  
Jack nodded slowly. "Yer see, the wind and heat had not been kind to the ole Attitude. That night we'd raided an Italian ship and confiscated most of its goods, but before dawn the winds had all but died. We lay idle in the water. It was not a healthy state of affairs, mates."  
  
Everyone mumbled their agreement. A ship staled in the water could mean death.  
  
"We had plenty o' warnin'. I 'eard t' ship's bell ringing and the bo'sun called 'all hands on deck.' I grabbed me knife and went up on deck. They was handin' out swords, belaying pins and long polls. Some of t'men were prayin', most cursin'. I couldn't figure out why, until looked across the water."  
  
"What d'ya see, Jack?" Gibbs egged him on.  
  
"I saw the Corsairs, with their sweeps out. They were rowin' towards us. The Attitude, with no wind to fill her sails, could do nothing but prepare to repel boarders. But they outnumbered us. We knew we was doomed men."  
  
Jack took a long slow sip of his ale. "It seems me cup is dry."  
  
"Oh, let me buy you a drink, Capt'n," Fisherman said, signaling the serving woman. She brought over the pitcher and filled Jack's mug as he continued.  
  
"Thank you," Jack smiled at Fisherman and the wench. "Where was I? Oh, yes. At the very last minute as they came at us, the Corsair's ship turned to cross the bow of the Attitude. You can imagine what happened next."  
  
The listeners knew only too well what that implied, and Jack continued. "They sent one cannon ball after t'other straight down t'Attitude's belly, the full length of her. Her guns sat useless. Men cried out. Wooden splinters flew like bullets. Maimin'. Killin'. I shall never forget the sound of water rushing into the holds. It roared almost as loudly as the cannon fire.  
  
"I tell ya, the Attitude never had a chance. Her crew, them that survived, surrendered. It was in that moment that I decided if I ever lived long enough to command me own ship, she'd have sweeps aboard."  
  
Jack took a sip of his newly refilled tankard. "Now where was I? Oh, yes.  
  
"Once I was captured, I wondered if I would ever get the chance to command a ship. That day my life took a very strange turn."  
  
"How is that, Jack?" Gibbs held his own drink, forgotten in his hand.  
  
"Well, Gibbs, I did not expected much when a rope was put around me wrists and neck. I were lead ashore at some port where I couldn't read any of t'signs or understand their lingo. The Corsairs forced me t'line up along with some of the other members of the crew of the ill-fated Attitude.  
  
"This here man comes along wearing clothes the likes of which I had never seen a'fore and shoes that curled up on the ends. Well, he came up and inspected each of us. I felt like I was on a hook in the meat market, if ye get me meaning. This fellow looked at everything from our hair and teeth, to our hands. He chose me out of the lot.  
  
"I didn't have any idea what I'd been so specially chosen for and I had suspicions that I would be handed over to some old man who would keep me as a foreign pet or force me to work in the mines. But that was not to be."  
  
"How did you escape?" the serving wench asked.  
  
Jack cast her a golden smile. "It's not that simple, lass. Y'see, it was like this. The man, took the end of the rope around me neck," Jack demonstrated with his hands, "and led me away. When he spoke to me in his foreign lingo, I still couldn't make sense of his gibberish, but he seemed to be trying to explain somethin' to me. I kept a'sayin', 'Me no savvy,' but apparently the fellow didn't savvy either.  
  
"I was led in through a door in a high wall, taller than anythin' in town here, down a flight of steps and into a windowless room. It were warm down there and smelled like foreign incense, if y'know what that smells like. This is it, me thinks, some foreign devil will do something unspeakable and vile to me here." Jack paused, smiling broadly. "One can only dream, eh?"  
  
The listeners answered with laughs which quickly hushed when Jack continued his tale.  
  
"But the room turned out to be a huge bathing chamber fit for a king. I was released from the rope and with pointing, and prodding, the fellow forced me to undress and get into a huge bath the likes of which I'd never seen a'fore or since. I mean, it was almost as big as me cabin aboard t'Pearl." He moved his arms widely.  
  
Jack's voice took on a dreamy quality of velvety softness as he told them this part of his adventure. "The waters of this here bath were scented with fragrances from the far east and warm, like a summer's day. I still had some rather gloomy thoughts that kept tellin' me that I was just being softened up for whatever depravity they had planned next.  
  
"The man, who I assumed was called Puk because he kept pointing to himself and saying 'Puk', jabbered away at me and o'course I still couldn't figure out what he were sayin'. He showed me his arm and held it beside my own. At last, one thing I understood: the fellow was impressed with me skin. Not that it was pale compared to someone who worked inside all his life, but compared to that man's, mine was fair.  
  
"From the bath, I was not allowed me own clothes back. I was wrapped in soft cloths like to velvet to dry meself and led to another room where Puk gave me very strange clothes indeed. Silks sewn with golden thread, satins and long golden chains with golden coins.  
  
"I put on several layers of these strange clothes and necklaces and hand jewelry and even some around me ankles, then Puk put a sort o'turban and a large veil over me head. It covered me face from below me eyes to me chest." Jack held his hands up to demonstrate.  
  
"Why did he dress you up all fancy like?" Gibbs asked, leaning forward so he wouldn't miss a word.  
  
"You'll see," Jack waved him to be patient. "The last thing Puk did was draw black with a stick around me eyes. Now, like some o'you, I'd seen some of the women in those parts, especially on the north shore of Africa, wearing that stuff, but I'd never seen men with it. Come to think of it, I'd never seen men in the clothes Puk had given me to wear, either.  
  
"Still I figured I'd been sold to some man who wanted me as a sex slave." Jack nodded knowingly and the other men nodded with him.  
  
"Dirty bastard," someone muttered.  
  
"He got good taste, if he wanted you Jack," the serving wench told him with a wink.  
  
Jack nodded, then carried on: "Fearin' t'worst, I followed Puk out of the bath, up stairs, to a huge garden in the center of t'palace. There were fountains and birds in gold cages, and men playin' flutes, right out of a fancy tale.  
  
"Sitting there in the center of t'garden, dressed like a king, with a huge turban and slave girls on either side of him fanning him, was this little guy whom I supposed was the king or sultan. That's it then, Jack, I thought, this guy has bought me."  
  
"So a Sultan bought you?" old salt shook his head knowingly.  
  
"Ah, but there's more," Jack held up a hand. "Puk led me around the garden, right behind the sultan, and on to a big locked door guarded by two eunuchs. Puk gave a special knock," Jack demonstrated on the table top, "and the door opened."  
  
The crowd around Jack, to the man, leaned a little closer to catch Jack's every word.  
  
"There sat a lady as royally dressed as the man in the garden had been, with a veil much like the one I wore covering her face. In fact, I realized, all her clothes was exactly like mine. I saw meself looking into eyes outlined in kohl, much like me own, and I realized as she stood, that we were much the same height. She circled around me, eyeing me like a hungry panther eying a rabbit. She took off me veil saying, 'Yes, you'll do,' in French, which I understood.  
  
"'Madam, I don't understand what is.' I tried to explain.  
  
"'You shall take my place here,' she gestured around a room fit for a queen, 'and give me a chance to meet my lover. My husband, the Sultan, cares little for my company, but he doesn't want to share me. It would insult his honor.'  
  
"'That I understand,' I told her.  
  
"'So you will stay here, be me for a few days, and I will escape.'  
  
"'And then?' I asked, seein' as how I'd be the one with his neck stickin' out once her disappearance was discovered.  
  
"'And then Puk will bring you new clothes, you will put them on and take what you are wearing with you and leave. By then, I shall be far away and my husband will never be able to find me,' she says pretty as you please.  
  
"'What if he discovers you are gone before then?' I didn't like her plan.  
  
"'I'm sure my husband will kill everyone he suspects helped me escape, so it is in your best interest to be me perfectly. Puk will give you instructions.'  
  
"'But he doesn't speak English, or French,' I pointed out.  
  
"'He'll teach by example. I am not from this land.' She looked a little sad as she told me about herself. 'My name is Armande Duval. I am from the city of New Orleans. I was kidnapped by pirates five years ago and brought here to marry the Sultan against my will. I have been his wife for five years. Now you can be his wife for five days.'  
  
"She started to turn, but I reached forward and caught her hand.  
  
"'What if he wants to share the marriage bed?' I asked.  
  
"'Oh, don't worry, he doesn't like women in that way,' she assured me, yet I did not find that much of a relief."  
  
Everyone laughed at Jack's comment, and he took a sip of ale.  
  
"Well, what happened?" Fisherman urged him on. "How'd you escape?"  
  
"She picked up and left right then and there. I never saw her again. But, you see, I discovered that the locked area I was in was called the harem and there were another twenty-two of the Sultan's wives there. Apparently, he'd forced himself to bed his first few wives, had his two sons and three daughters, and no longer went there. They didn't take long to discover I was no eunuch."  
  
There was a moment of silence in the tavern.  
  
"Do you mean to say.?" Gibbs asked, his eyes wide.  
  
Jack nodded slowly.  
  
"With all of 'em?" Gibbs added.  
  
"I couldn't let some of the poor women feel left out now, could I?" Jack lifted his chin.  
  
"Twenty-two in five days?" Fisherman leaned in more closely.  
  
"Some of them more than once," Jack assured him.  
  
There was another moment of silence, then Jack continued. "Puk watched over me for the next five days. Between him and the Sultan's wives, I learnt me some Turkish, at least that is what I think I was learning."  
  
Jack's voice lowered to a conspiratorial whisper. "Early in the morning of the fifth day, Puk brought me men's clothing. Must a been captured from some poor Spanish bloke by the look of it. Beggers can't be choosers, as they say, so I changed into 'em. I also pocketed several items I'd collected. Puk gave me gold coins, saying they were from Armande, then I was led out of the palace by secret ways.  
  
"Back at the docks, I found meself lookin' at the sparklin' water and it was only then I realized I'd forgotten to remove the kohl from me eyes. The blackness seemed to cut down on the glare, so I left it."  
  
"So you got out o'there safe like?" Gibbs nodded.  
  
"Yes, after posing as the Sultana for five days and learning the art of applying kohl and enough Turkish to get by, me luck held. A British ship needed hands. They took me on board and I made me way south toward Cairo, but that is another story." Jack held up his tankard and saluted the group.  
  
Jack still had one of the golden coins he'd gotten from the Sultana. He wore it in his hair, one of his many souvenirs from his visit there. 


End file.
